There was an increase in local company incorporations in Hong Kong in 2016, although incorporations by foreign companies experienced a dip, according to the territory’s Companies Registry.

The new figures show that the total number of local companies registered under the Companies Ordinance reached 1,341,223 at the end of 2016, up 52,557 from the corresponding figure at the end of 2015.

In 2016, a total of 144,883 local companies were newly registered with the Companies Registry.

Last year also saw 874 non-Hong Kong companies establish a new place of business in Hong Kong under the Companies Ordinance, a slight decrease of 2.24 percent from 894 in 2015. The total number of registered non-Hong Kong companies reached 9,983 by the end of 2016, down 0.46 percent year on year.